1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an insert for a sample chamber of a multi-well plate, which delimits the sample chamber upwardly, so as to form a measurement space, when the insert is in the state in which it is fitted into the sample chamber. The invention relates, furthermore, to a multi-well plate having a plurality of sample chambers, such an insert being capable of being fitted into at least one sample chamber.
2. Prior Art
Multi-well plates are known as standard sample vessels. They serve for the reception and investigation of the most diverse possible sample types, such as, for example, biological cell samples. Individual sample chambers or wells are arranged, as a rule, in the form of a matrix on such a plate. The multi-well plates are usually covered upwardly with flat lids.
However, inserts which are designed as stoppers and which are inserted into the sample chambers from above by hand have also become known. In this case, a measurement space, in which the sample to be investigated is arranged, is formed between the lower end of the insert and that region of the sample chamber which is arranged below it.
The measurement space is usually filled with a fluid component which, for example, can supply nutrients to a biological sample. Further, specific active substances can be added to the sample via such a fluid component.
In this context, multi-well plates are also known in which the fluid component flows through the sample chamber which forms part of a multi-chamber system. Such a multi-chamber system is disclosed, inter alia, in DE 10 2008 035 644 A1.
In the systems known in the prior art and composed of multi-well plates and of associated sample chamber inserts, the lack of sealing between the sample chamber and the insert presents a problem. On account of this, after the insert has been fitted, the fluid component may escape from the measurement space into the upper region of the sample chamber in an undesirable way.
In DE 10 2008 035 644 A1, the insert disclosed there may easily execute up-and-down movements in the sample chamber. On account of this, and also, in general, as a consequence of the form of construction, in DE 10 2008 035 644 A1 the insert is at best seated in the sample chamber with approximate sealing, as is explicitly referred to. The leaks mentioned may therefore occur. Such a leak leads to deviations in the actual fluid flow flowing through the measurement space from the theoretical or desired flow.